Reason and Rhyme
by Patchcat
Summary: Hisoka and Tsuzuki are Summoned to New York City. A crossover with the manga series FAKE.


Title: Reason and Rhyme

Rating: G

Warnings: None, unless you count mentions of an established M/M relationship.

Disclaimed: These characters do not belong to me. They are the property of Yoko Matsushita and Sanami Matoh and anyone they has sold legal rights to. I'm just playing with them for a while.

Notes: This is the uncut, extended version of a 300 word ficlet by the same name I wrote for the LiveJournal community fanfic_bakeoff. The theme was "catch." This little piece weighs in at 634 words. Also, this is a crossover with YnM and the manga FAKE.

**Reason and Rhyme**

Hisoka is confused as he stares at the summons. Sharing a bewildered look with his partner, he turns to their superior and asks, "New York City?"

Bright blue eyes flash behind freshly adjusted glasses. "His name is on the kiseki, Kurosaki-kun. It is your job to find out why he has not crossed over and retrieve him." Tatsumi turns his attention back to the reports in front of him, a clear dismissal. "Please see Watari-san on the way out. He has something to help with the language issue."

The pair makes their way back to their desks, Tsuzuki keeping an eye on his partner as Hisoka reads while he walks. It still amazes him that the boy never runs into anything. "His mother was Japanese," Hisoka says, flipping through the pages. "That explains why he's on the List, but it doesn't explain why he hasn't moved on yet."

"Guess we'll find out when we get there, huh?" Tsuzuki responds with a grim smile. "Meet me in an hour?"

Hisoka's answering nod is distracted as he continues his reading and heads towards Watari's lab to pick up their equipment.

~*~*~*~

The hospital room is quiet when they arrive. A black-haired man sits at the bedside. He holds tight to the hand of the man lying there, only stirring to brush lightly at the other's chestnut hair. His pain is palpable even to Tsuzuki, and Hisoka fights not to be overwhelmed by it.

A hoarse whisper breaks the silence, the voice heavy with grief and harsh as though this man has spent hours talking. "Ryo? Ryo, I know you can hear me. You have to stay with me, buddy. You can't –" Dee's voice hitches with suppressed sobs, and he distractedly wipes the tears away with his free hand. "You can't leave me. We've fought too damned hard to get here. You can't leave me!"

The Shinigami watch as their target's lover breaks down. His sobs are ragged and gasping, and he lays his head against their clasped hands. He cries for a long time, his sobs finally settling down to ragged inhalations and barely heard whispers of "Please don't leave me."

Distantly, Hisoka feels Ryo's soul stirring, straining to fight against the inevitable, to come back to the one calling for him; and suddenly Hisoka knows why this man hasn't crossed over. "Tsuzuki?" he asks, looking over at his partner to see that the elder Shinigami has come to the same realization.

"I know," Tsuzuki answers. "We can't separate them, Hisoka. It wouldn't be right. We have to help him stay."

"And just how do you propose we do that, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asks, irritated. One day his partner's soft-heartedness is really going to cause them problems. Well. More so than it has already, anyway. Hisoka snorts, rolls his eyes, and shakes his head.

Tsuzuki pulls the summons out of his coat pocket and waggles it in front of his partner. "I really have no idea what happened to that summons, Hisoka. Did you see where it went?"

Hisoka sighs and turns away, giving into the inevitable. Perhaps he's just as soft-hearted as his partner after all. He knows that Tsuzuki's right, that this soul has more to live for, but still… "One of these days, the Chief's going to stop looking the other way when you do this, and you're going to get fired. You know that, don't you?"

Tsuzuki grins impishly as he shreds the summons. The change to the man on the bed is almost instantaneous. The beeping of the machines turns hopefully, and Dee lifts his head to stare as he feels Ryo's hand stroke his hair.

"Maybe," Tsuzuki responds with a joyous smile as they disappear and start the long journey home. "But they have to catch me at it first."


End file.
